eBay acquires Decide to help shoppers decide what to buy, when to buy

Decide announced the news on Friday and alerted users that it would completely shut down services on 30 September. The acquisition apparently comes just one year after Decide began experimenting with eBay. According to a notice on Decide's website, the company has used its data and predictive analytics to help over 25 million eBay sellers make "smarter decisions and be more successful".

As for whether Decide will integrate into eBay or exist as a separate entity, the company said its entire team will "be a part of this exciting new chapter and will be making the move to eBay’s new Seattle-area offices". Decide also said it would continue to bring "the same innovative products and thinking as part of the eBay family".

Decide.com and its mobile apps used a "patent-pending machine" that looked at billions of prices across millions of products, blog posts and articles online to help shoppers make buying decisions. Decide users could browse a product rating system, set up alerts for future product purchases and even get advice on when to buy.

Reading between the lines, eBay probably wants to include Decide's predictive and price comparison technology. This would help online shoppers get the best deal by deciding what to buy and when, while simultaneously allowing eBay to stay feature-rich in the online retail space.

Élyse is Los Angeles-based and has a decade of journalism experience. She sticks to technology reporting, with a focus on Apple and Google-related news, and has worked in many forms of media, including newspapers and online. She also holds a MFA in creative writing and a BA in multimedia journalism.